Tag Archives: easy peasy

Taco soup is one of our favorites because it’s super easy, packed with flavor, and makes enough leftovers for lunch the next day. It’s basically your favorite beans, some seasoning, tomato sauce and you are ready to go! Here’s what we put in ours:

Soup's on!

There have been times we’ve done green beans or pinto beans, too! We realized we wanted it to be a little more “soupy” so we’ve begun to add diced tomatoes (with liquid) to make it that way. The seasoning packets can be any taco seasoning that’s your favorite. If you happen to find a ranch packet that’s vegan (they do exist!), you can sub that out for one of the seasoning packets.

Taco Soup

3-4 cans beans of your choice

1 can tomato sauce

1 can corn

1 can diced tomatoes

2 cups water

1 package of taco seasoning

1 package of ranch seasoning (or 2 of taco)

Drain beans in large colander. Put in large pot. Add all other ingredients, stirring to mix well. Simmer about 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

My goodness it has been way too long since I’ve been here! Let’s just say that me baking a little one in my own “oven” has made for one lazy gal. I’ll try to not be so remiss from now on. I’ve missed you all. 😀

With said little person on the way, both the hubby and I are definitely looking to have a good variety of easy to make meals at the ready. Something tells me that we won’t have quite as much time to be whipping up elaborate things, but simple can be fabulous, right?

Last night we made a yummy spicy peanut bake. Three ingredients, 25 minutes, and on the way to yum.

This is all you need:

One, two, three and you're ready!

We’ve tried some of the other Taste of Thai seasonings but this one is by far our favorite. It’s sweet and spicy all at once and just has a great flavor. We make things easier by going ahead and buying the seitan already made and in nice little strips. Remember, we want easy! As for the rice, throw a cup in the rice cooker and you are on the way to perfect rice. (What did I do before my little rice cooker?!)

So you just put the seitan in a glass pan, coat it with the mix, cook just a few more minutes than recommended on the back of the packet for chicken and you are ready to go in no time at all.

For some reason I keep buying silken tofu and forgetting what recipe I was going to use it for in the first place. (Don’t get me started on how I went to buy some today but needed FIRM silken tofu, not just silken, gads!) Anyway, sadly, more than one package has gotten the toss since I’d been so lazy in the kitchen. I just couldn’t see another package go to waste, however, and found this super duper easy as can be recipe for fruit dip in La Dolce Vegan. Yeah, it’s kind of my favorite cookbook at the mo’. Anyway, all you need is a package of silken tofu, some maple syrup, and some cinnamon and you have a yummy fruit dip in seconds. Yes, just like that!

I have to admit I feel sort of silly posting this recipe because it’s pretty simple. I have had quite a few people ask, though, how I make my guacamole. It’s pretty tasty and has been called “epic” by Kit Kat so here you go:

So, there you have it. Nothing too fancy! I’ve been told, though, that the lemon is what makes it so yummy. So while all the ingredients are to taste, remember to put less in to start because you can always add more. 😀

One of my new favorite shows is the Showtime series, Weeds. I love the characters, the out of control situations, and now I love these tacos. While the tacos don’t really have anything to do with the show, Kit Kat fondly named them “Doug Tacos” after Kevin Nealon’s character.

We love Doug and we love tacos, so this was naturally love at first bite. The other great thing is that these are super easy to make and after all is said and done, really darn cheap, too!

Fill shells evenly with mixture from saute pan. If desired, top with any of the following: chopped tomatoes, shredded soy or rice cheese, low-fat guacamole, shredded lettuce, hot sauce, or salsa.

A few notes: I didn’t use onion or green pepper when I made them but I’m sure they’d be a delicious addition. Also, instead of using store bought tortilla shells, I made them the way my Grams has made them for years: hot oil in a skillet. This makes them soft and with just a touch of crunch. Yum! As you can see from the picture, we added my famous guacamole and we also used some Chili Garlic Cholula for some extra spice. It’s my favorite!

The Doug Tacos will definitely become part of the dinner rotation in our house.

Another product review coming at ya! I’d heard that these MorningStar meal starters were pretty delish but just hadn’t gotten around to trying them out until about a week ago. I was walking about the market quite aimlessly and found myself staring at the frozen foods just hoping one of them would follow me home and cook itself on up. So while THAT didn’t happen, I decided to check out the MorningStar Chik’n Strips that proudly displayed the “Vegan” label front and center.

I warmed up the wok at home, drizzled in some olive oil and browned the strips. After they were all warm and ready to go, I added some stir fry noodles and some broccoli. Instant noms. I have to say, I was REALLY impressed with the look, taste and texture of this product. I took leftovers to work and had colleagues doing the whole “oh, so you aren’t doing that Vegan thing anymore?” and a few even “dared” to try my dish and couldn’t believe it was faux meat. Score.

While I’m not always a fan of MorningStar Farms because they just haven’t gotten with the program and ditched the eggs yet, I am a fan of this particular product. So get your wok ready and mix it on up.